What Harm Reduction Taught Me About My Ex ’ s Addiction —And Myself

Ted (not his real name) arrived at my apartment two hours after Jason (also not his real name) texted him. I was expecting somebody young, but Ted was an older man, in his 60s or 70s. The van he pulled up in was white and unmarked. He was wearing a red turtleneck sweater, jeans, old sneakers. He had a ponytail. He looked like someone’s off-beat, slightly disheveled great uncle. Everything about him—the van, especially—embarrassed me. He hauled a bag of supplies: rapid blood tests, forms secured on a clipboard, and condoms. I was panicking because Jason, who was my on-and-off-again boyfriend at the time, had recently relapsed on heroin. Jason had assured me he always used clean needles, but by that point, I didn’t believe much of what he said. I wanted both of us to get tested for HIV and Hep C. Jason told me he had a “friend from an organization” who could provide us with free and rapid blood tests that day. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] I didn’t know then what harm reduction was, or that Ted was a harm reduction practitioner. Ted was there to help us, but I was too caught up in my own fear to see this. In my mind, Ted was just some guy Jason had saved in his phone, someone who showed up when Jason texted—and because of that, I mistrusted him instantly. Jason had a lot of support, but when he was relapsing, it wasn’t his doctor, his sponsor, or his drug court counselor he called. He avoided these people; I d...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized freelance society Source Type: news